The director of Logan proudly presents “Old Man Indy.”

His past adventures the stuff of legend, Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr. (Harrison Ford) is winding down to retirement as an archeology professor at NYC’s Hunter College, but all anyone can talk about is “men landing on the moon.” He is paid a visit by Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), the daughter of an esteemed colleague and friend Basil Shaw (Toby Jones). She asks about the Antikythera mechanism, believed to be the world’s first analogue computer and capable of predicting astronomical events created by the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes. Fearful Helena will ruin her life obsessing over the mechanism as her father once did, Indy reveals he still possesses one half of the device… unaware that renowned rocket scientist (and former Nazi) Dr. Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) is also seeking the mechanism, certain it can change the course of human history.

In most films or franchises, a main character tends to grow or change over time, but two classic exceptions to that rule have always been James Bond and Indiana Jones. Daniel Craig’s 007 was tasked to portray depth none of the previous Bonds were given, including making a sacrifice in his final appearance that broke with tradition. Speaking of which — working from a script by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and David Koepp — director James Mangold turns in Indy’s final chapter about more than a man who never loses his hat: an elder waiting for the sunset instead of riding off into it. Eighty years old in real life, Harrison Ford can neither realistically do what Indy once did nor do it believably; Ford reportedly went out of his way to let Indy be an old man and not superhuman. It may not be what fans or audiences really want, but will they accept this final adventure with their favorite archeologist now that he belongs in a museum?

Whereas Star Trek movies are touted as even-numbered installments being the best, Indiana Jones films appear to fair better in odd numbers. Raiders of the Lost Ark set the tone but told us nothing of Indy himself, an oversight corrected by introducing his father (Sean Connery) in The Last Crusade and the boy who became Indy. In The Dial of Destiny, half the story is dedicated to the regrets of old men: those who are resigned to it and those who do something about it. The rest follows the Indy formula of previous adventures, a glimpse of the civilized world (read: safely boring), and a new adventure where the bad guy is someone from Indy’s past. The studio isn’t taking any chances with another “evil” Indy from Temple of Doom or the preposterous nuking the fridge sequence from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In fact, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Helena does more saving than being rescued, and seeing Indy in his elder years will resonate with a generation that grew up with The Man in the Hat with the Whip.

The de-aging process for the opening sequence is the best money can buy, yet they skimped on establishing shots such as a VFX Indy running across a moving train like a rushed video game sequence. The aforementioned “Dial of Destiny” McGuffin works, creating the right amount of intrigue to keep the mystery moving through all the clues, although Mikkelsen’s Dr. Voller wins too often thanks to having plenty of henchmen. Where audiences might be lost is late in the third act trying to keep up with the villain’s master plan, how it’s supposed to work, and what causes it to (in typical Indy fashion) go spectacularly off the rails. It’s a delicate balancing act at best and overlong at worst, but ultimately The Dial of Destiny is a better place to retire Dr. Jones than dealing with ancient inter-dimensional aliens and criminally wasting Cate Blanchett.

Less beating a dead horse and more batting around an aging action hero, the fifth Indy film does what it sets out to do, and audiences looking for one final adventure should be happier about the ending on this one. Rumors of Waller-Bridge’s Helena being spun off into her own franchise are just as premature as Shia LaBeouf becoming the next Indiana Jones. At the same time, there wasn’t any need for a fifth film to exist, but if we had to have one, it could have been far worse and thankfully wasn’t.

For anyone asking, the new order from best to worst: Raiders of the Lost Ark; The Last Crusade; The Dial of Destiny; Temple of Doom; Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, language, smoking, and who knows? In two thousand years, even you may be worth something.

Three skull recommendation out of four

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